‘So teaching martial arts is a part of it?’
‘Yes. A very large part. I go out to teach as well.’
So that was what he did. He went out to give international spies their basic training in martial arts. How cool was this. ‘Can you teach me?’
He studied me carefully. ‘You want to learn?’
‘Yes!’
He watched me silently for a while. Then he turned away. ‘No. I won’t teach you.’ I opened my mouth to object.
He spoke before I had a chance to. ‘I won’t teach you. Don’t bother asking again, because the answer will always be no.’
‘Why on earth not? Is it because I’m a woman?’
‘Here they come. They’re both soaked.’
He was right. Simone was full of smiles, but Leo was miserable. He gestured at the bottom of his smart designer slacks. ‘Ruined.’
‘I’m all wet too,’ Simone said. She pulled at her T-shirt. ‘Leo hates it, Daddy, can you fix it for him?’
‘Simone…’ Leo said, warning.
Mr Chen rose. ‘Could you fold up the mat for us please, Miss Donahoe?’
‘Sure.’
When I’d finished folding the mat, both Simone and Leo were perfectly dry. Mr Chen took Simone’s hand and led her down the beach towards the statues. Leo followed. I brought up the rear, holding the mat and wondering.
The government had concreted the little peninsula at the end of the beach, and local rich people had donated statues of the various deities to be placed there. Most of them were life-sized, but some were enormous.
The two largest statues were of goddesses: one stood wearing flowing white robes and holding an urn; the other sat on a throne, wearing brightly coloured robes.
‘Is that Kwan Yin?’ I asked Mr Chen, pointing at the standing goddess.
‘Yes, it is,’ Mr Chen said.
‘I’ve heard about her, and seen her on temple tours.’ Everybody who’d spent any amount of time in Asia quickly learned to recognise Kwan Yin. People put statues and images of her everywhere, from small roadside altars to the front panels of taxis. The Goddess that Hears the Cries of the World. She was depicted in both Buddhist and Taoist temples, and was the only deity that the temple guides would talk about in detail. Everybody loved her; she was the spirit of mercy. She even had her own type of tea.
‘Who’s the other one?’ I said.
‘That’s Tin Hau, Goddess of the Sea.’
‘The same one as the MTR station?’
‘Yes. The station is called “Tin Hau” because there’s a temple nearby. Tin Hau has many temples in Hong Kong; the people here are traditionally seafarers, and she cares for them. Both of these ladies care for the sailors.’
‘What about the god in the temple on Cheung Chau island? He’s supposed to be a water god as well.’
‘Pak Tai? He’s very boring,’ Mr Chen said. He raised his voice to call to Simone. ‘Don’t go too far, sweetheart.’ He grinned at me. ‘You said you didn’t know anything about the deities.’
‘I thought I didn’t,’ I said.
‘Look at the dragon, Daddy,’ Simone called from a statue a short distance away. ‘It’s blue! Dragons are supposed to be green!’
‘Dragons can be any colour they like, darling,’ he said.
I stopped to look at a statue of an old man smiling with his arms raised. He wasn’t in the book they’d so conveniently left in my room. ‘Who’s this?’
‘That’s the Old Man Under the Moon,’ Mr Chen said. ‘Yuexia Laoren in Putonghua. He makes sure everybody finds the right partner. Bang on the rock next to him and ask him to find you a good man.’
I just grinned at him. We moved further on.
‘Why does this one have a rabbit? And what’s the rabbit doing?’ The woman wore flowing brilliantly coloured robes, and the rabbit next to her seemed to be pounding something in a mortar and pestle. This goddess wasn’t in the book either.
‘You never stop asking questions, do you?’ Mr Chen said with amusement. He raised his hand to stop me before I could apologise. ‘This lady is very interesting. Her husband fought a great battle and was rewarded with the Elixir of Immortality. She stole it and drank it. Her husband was furious and she ran from him, to the moon. She’s lived on the moon ever since, cold and alone.’
‘That’s really sad. But what does the rabbit have to do with it?’
‘When we look at the full moon we see a rabbit pounding beans to fill rice cakes. If you know what to look for, it’s quite obvious.’
‘We see the face of a man.’ Then my mouth flopped open as I realised: ‘Oh my God. Sailor Moon. She has long hair like rabbit ears, and her English name in the manga is Bunny.’
‘I bought some of those videos for Simone.’ He turned to walk on. ‘Now she pesters me all the time to buy her the complete set.’
‘I know. I’ll have to introduce her to some other good anime. I think she’ll love Cardcaptors.’
‘Having you as a nanny becomes more and more expensive all the time,’ he said, smiling. ‘How many books did you order from that online bookstore anyway? The bill was enormous.’
‘Hey, I checked with you first. And you know there isn’t a great selection of English books here.’
He stopped and gazed into my eyes. ‘I appreciate what you’re doing for her. I don’t know what I’d do without you.’
I smiled up at him. ‘It is absolutely my pleasure. I’ve never enjoyed working with anyone as much as I’ve enjoyed working with you and Simone.’
Suddenly he stiffened and his eyes turned inward. He snapped back and looked around. ‘Leo! We need to move. Get Simone.’
‘What’s the matter?’ I said, but he was distracted.
Leo picked Simone up and came quickly over.
‘What’s happening, Daddy?’ Simone said from Leo’s arms.
‘Bad people, Simone, we have to move.’
‘Where?’ I said, but he ignored me. I looked around. Everything seemed perfectly normal. A couple of families with children wandered around the statues. A Taiwanese tour group piled off a bus nearby, talking loudly to each other in Putonghua.
‘Where, sir?’ Leo said. ‘Which direction?’
‘Hold.’ Mr Chen was still looking around.
‘My Lord, we should move,’ Leo said quietly.
‘I’m not sure which direction. Hold, Leo.’
I silently watched them both. This was way weirder than any spy stuff.
‘You should see Ms Kwan, my Lord,’ Leo hissed under his breath. ‘You’re leaving it very late. You’re very weak. You can’t even tell where they’re coming from.’
‘Wait, Leo. They are a good distance away. I will be able to pick the direction soon…There.’ Mr Chen turned to look up the beach, away from the tourists. ‘The young couple halfway up the beach. Let’s go.’
The young couple looked perfectly normal to me.
‘I was having fun, Daddy,’ Simone said.
‘You know we have to go, sweetheart,’ Mr Chen said sadly. ‘There are bad people here.’
Simone kicked her legs into Leo with frustration.
‘Chen See Mun!’ Mr Chen barked softly. ‘Discipline.’
Simone subsided and made a face.
‘Let’s go, Leo.’ Mr Chen was unruffled. ‘Walk right past them. Ignore them. They will not go for us, this place is too public. They were probably hoping to catch us in the shelter of the statues.’
‘My Lord.’ Leo turned and walked up the beach. Mr Chen gestured for me to follow.
‘What’s going on, Mr Chen?’
‘I’ll tell you later, Emma. Right now we need to go home.’
As we approached, the young couple saw us and moved to intercept us. Leo and Mr Chen both tried to walk around them, but they stopped in front of us, blocking our way.
Leo took my arm and pulled me behind him. He lowered Simone and pushed her behind him as well. ‘Hold Simone there, Emma.’